Speaking of the philosophy involved in moving humanity into space: Furniture will be a largely obsolete concept. Take for example the dresser my mom bought for me when I was a kid. I still have it, and by the standards of its era, it's an admirable household fixture. It is a massive construction of maple wood, expertly joined with cunningly fit pieces, fitted and glued with the strength of iron. It is set with massive brass fixtures, and looks today -- discounting the dust -- as new as the day it was purchased, a quarter century ago. So far, so good; a fine piece of furniture, you might say. But let's look at it objectively, as a machine, as an object with a purpose. Here sit a hundred pounds of hardwood with a compressive strength of 1500 psi, jointed by an expert craftsman into a rigid box that would easily support a bull elephant. And what is the sole purpose of this massive crate, this monument to a dead tree? -- it holds my socks. Not only is it blind engineering overkill of epic proportions, it is also an environmental disaster. The home to generations of squirrels, a sentinel post for falcons, an autumnal banner of golden glory, a living creature, was chopped down to enshrine some underwear. This, my friends, is no way to run a planet. -- Marshall T. Savage, from The Millennial Project: Colonizing the Galaxy -- In Eight Easy Steps
Doug in western NC